Dark Posted July 15, 2021 Posted July 15, 2021 One of the things that PC users miss compared to console users is being able to play our favorite games anywhere. It is true that there are laptops, but there is no device with the portability of a console in the style of the Nintendo Switch. Well, the solution comes to us from Valve and its Steam Deck. One of the best things about the Nintendo Switch console is the fact that you can play AAA classics in high definition anywhere. But its catalog is more limited than that of the PC and it lacks the power to run its games. At the same time we have seen in recent times integrated PCs in the form of a portable console such as the GPD Win. Within this approach, Valve has designed its Steam Deck. Let's see how it is. Steam Deck, Valve's portable gaming PC with AMD Van Gogh APU Steam Deck APU Many of you will remember that failed Spanish project based on creating a portable Steam Machine, dubbed SMACH-Z. Well, the Steam Deck is as if Valve had rescued that project and updated it to launch it under its own brand. Its technical specifications? Its main APU is the AMD Van Gogh, which has been designed by AMD for this Valve project, said APU has a CCX CCD with 4 cores and 8 Zen 2 threads that work between 2.4 and 3.5 GHz and an RDNA 2 GPU that it moves between 1 GHz and 1.6 GHz. If you want to get an exact idea of its raw power, in terms of GPU this is at the level of base versions of the previous generation consoles: PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Compared to the Nintendo Switch it can be up to an order of more powerful magnitude. The key being the development of the low-power version of RDNA 2, both for Samsung's ARM CPU mobile processors and for projects like Van Gogh. Steam Deck SSD As for the RAM, it is equipped with 16 GB of the LPDDR5 type with a speed of 5500 mega transfers per cycle. Valve has not told us what the size of the bus is in its first technical specifications. But the memory bandwidth is important for the final performance of this system and depending on the bus chosen by Valve, its performance may vary. Of its technical specifications, it is the one that we see as the weakest. In terms of storage memory, the base model comes with 64GB eMMC, while the more advanced models have a 256GB or 512GB NVMe SSD integrated with a 4-line PCI Express 3.0 interface. This implies a speed of access to games that we can qualify as spectacular for a portable system. Of course, we will have to see how it impacts energy consumption and battery life. In all three cases it will be possible to expand the storage capacity through microSD cards. This is Valve's "console" on the outside Steam deck The Steam Deck has the classic buttons and levers that all consoles have today, such as the four front action buttons, the crosshead, two analog sticks, the two upper buttons. the two triggers and the classic menu button. So you will not be short of buttons in the games, but it also has the four cam buttons that have the most advanced control knobs on the market on the back. Valve has not forgotten its Steam Controller and has added its main novelty which were the trackpads, this time in the form of 2 square 30 mm trackpads with haptic feedback. Capacity that we achieve thanks to the integrated MEMS that provide the same type of vibration as the PS5 DualSense and the classic 6-axis accelerometers and gyroscopes. And what about the screen? Well, it is a 7-inch screen with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels and therefore with a 16:10 aspect ratio, its refresh rate is 60 Hz. It is a screen resolution similar to that of Nintendo Switch and for many people it may seem like a low resolution. To this we have to emphasize that it is an ideal resolution for the GPU to get the most out of the games in the GPU that is integrated inside. You can also use it on your TV Steam Deck TV We know that new generation consoles are based on PC technology, but unfortunately we cannot use them as a PC as we cannot install a third-party operating system. So we can install Windows and use it like a conventional PC. Which we can do with the use of its docking station, a Dock that will be sold separately, which will allow us to connect PC peripherals and connect the console to a TV or monitor in order to use the Steam Deck as a gaming PC. conventional.
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